CRASH TEST ANGELIQUE LE BILAN

 

 

Today I'd like to introduce you to a new contributor to the blog. A bit like Charlotte, a making-of specialist, she'll be dropping in from time to time to "crash-test" beauty products, crazy addresses, dance classes to move like Beyoncé and so on. This lemonade girl is Julie Locatelli, a friend of mine for 200 years now, it seems... Her name probably rings a bell, she used to work in the pages of Muteen (may she rest in peace), but if you've got that great magazine from our teenage years, where for years female readers were allowed to be on the cover... Well, Julie had a column every month: "LA VIDA LOCA" that was laugh-out-loud funny, and she also did lots of other things in that magazine. Then Julie went to live in London, and one day we met up again. She told me she read Make My Lemonade and had nothing but good things to say about it (love and pride, because I really love her writing), and quite naturally I suggested she write some "4 hands" posts, she could do some offbeat crash tests and I could do the illustrations... Banco! I'll leave you with Julie and her first L'occitane crash test, as well as her Chinese portrait (by the way, all the Make My Lemonade contributors are about to get theirs... Tania our director, Marilou our translator, Charlotte our Swiss Army knife, and a mystery guest who'll be doing horoscopes soon too... a real family!) See you soon, and don't forget that I love you all so much... I'll now hand over to Julie:

So, as you know, Lisa has teamed up with L'Occitane and thought it would be interesting to send me (known as Mowgli the wild child) a few products from the Angélique range.Let's set the scene: I'm anything but a beauty expert. I've had the same haircut for ten years, I shave my canes without foam and when I'm out of cotton, I use paper towels! That's how far we've come!

Well, let's get down to business. What is angelica? (Pierre Bellemare mode: ON) 

Well, it's an ancestral plant belonging to the same family as fennel. Among other things, it's used to treat asthma and bloating, but that's not the point. It is also used for its moisturizing and toning properties. Lisa sent me four products, all based on the essential oil and water of organic angelica (the angelica in question comes from the lands of Frédéric Nivon, aka Frédo, a nice little guy who grows it in the Drôme).

 

•  1# Le Gommage Rosée du Matin

Right off the bat, I found the name super poetic, like a beautiful Hélène Segara song. The scent, very green, appealed to me straight away. There are indeed extracts of mint and rosemary in there, so I might as well tell you that it makes you want to go running at oilp in a field. It's a very gentle scrub. I thought I'd prefer abrasive stuff that scratches your face like a pumice stone, but actually, not at all. A nice surprise, as Marie-Ange Nardi would say in Téléshopping! 

 

• 2# Radiant Cleanser 

I found this cleansing gel to be quite effective. The toughest mascaras may resist a little, but overall, it does the job and leaves skin velvety soft. However, I do have one drawback: the fragrance is too vegetal for my taste this time. It clearly smells of freshly mown grass, which I've never been a fan of. Everyone has their own obsessions. Maybe it's the smell of well-made camemberts that puts you off. Or your uncle's breath. Me, it's freshly cut grass: weird, weird...

 

• 3# Radiant Water

Not to be confused with Précieuse, the anti-blackhead fleet you used to wear in 6e6, when you were dating Kevyn (Kevyn with a Y, yeah. Don't ask, you've been burned). This alcohol-free toner apparently makes skin more hydrated, softer, suppler and brighter in 28 days. I'm only 10 days in and no one has yet stopped me in the street to say "But wow, what's your secret? Aren't you Hollywood? "To be seen over the longer term...

 

• 4# Radiant Cream 

All I ask of a moisturizer is that it doesn't make me sweat like I've just moved from the 6th floor to Montauban on a hot day. And I've succeeded with this cute little jar. The texture is light, neither too greasy nor sticky. The fragrance is subtle. Perfect for summer. And on the post-use softness scale, we're probably at strength 12, baby's bottom or earlobe level. A joy to touch! The ecstasy increases tenfold when you use the moisturizing mask from the same range before the Rosée du Matin mask. That's what I did earlier. Since then, I've been caressing my face with a goofy, blissful smile. I feel good, I feel like a woman. Thank you L'Occitane! 

 Kisses to all! Keep it real!

 

And now, drum roll... the winner of the competition, who wins 5 products from the range, is Mélanie Huber! Congratulations! Thank you all for playing the game, picking up the little pouches and giving us your opinion on this Radieuse range. 51% of you found the scent very pleasant, 39% felt your skin was immediately relieved, 56% moisturized, 39% felt your skin was a little protected, and above all 40% of you felt radiant - and that's no mean feat! 55% of you would recommend the range to a friend, so I'm delighted to know that you enjoyed this little introduction to the range as much as I did! 

 

 

If I were an object, I'd be... A Gremlins derivative (and more specifically, a resin Gizmo figurine).

 If I were a season, I'd be... Spring. The rest of the year, my T-zone is either oozing or peeling. 

 If I were a dish, I'd be... A bowl of alphabet pasta. 

 If I were an animal I'd be... A six-month-old chimpanzee 

 If I were a color I'd be... Bright and cheerful. I'd make the birds laugh and the bees sing. 

 If I were a legend I'd be... Johnny Hallyday

 If I were a fictional character I'd be... Baby Herman 

 If I were a bird I'd be... A puffin 

 If I were a plant I'd be... A small potted cactus 

 If I were a fruit, I'd be... The kind of exotic fruit that can transport you to Martinique even when you're in Pontault-Combault. A kumquat or a mango, for example. 

 If I were a sound, I'd be... The chime of an ice cream truck. 

 If I were a leisure activity I'd be... A bowling session followed by karaoke, all bourrache. 

 If I were a planet, I'd be... Ours, but as seen in the BBC1 nature documentaries. Lush vegetation, woolly monkeys in slowmo and all the rest. 

 If I were a piece of clothing I'd be... A Kigu onesie 

 If I were a vehicle I'd be... A pedalo 

 If I were a shoe I'd be... Certainly with holes and a bit dirty

 If I were a country, I'd be... Iceland. 62% of the population believe in elves and leprechauns there. I find that very cool, bordering on touching. 

 If I were a superhero I'd be... Gérard Blanc 

 If I were an insect I'd be... A beautiful naturalized butterfly 

 If I were a piece of furniture, I'd be... Duffy London's "Swing Table". Halfway between a dining table and a swing. 

If I were a monument I'd be... Salvation Mountain, California 

 If I were a body part I'd be... An elbow

 If I were a natural phenomenon I would be... Bellybutton lint 

If I were a magazine I would be... Sanglier Passion 

 If I were a website, I'd be... www.rookiemag.com

 If I were a twitter account I would be... No idea! I'm not registered. 

 If I were an instagram account I'd be... @kitiyapalaskas, a craft designer based in Australia, fan of peas and pizzas

 If I were a maxim I'd be... "Life's short, eat dessert first!"